Michigan State’s recent success received a brutal wake-up call against a white-hot Wisconsin team Friday night.

In a rough season, the Spartans appeared to be finding their footing with a 3-game winning streak. Unfortunately, a trip to Madison is not what the doctor ordered, especially against this year’s Badgers squad firing on all cylinders.

Michigan State was able to keep things close for a while in the first half but Wisconsin slowly but surely opened up a 9-point halftime lead. AJ Storr proved to be a handful for the Spartans to deal with, and it was the 1-2 punch of Storr and Steven Crowl that kept Michigan State off-balance.

In the end, Storr led all players with 28 points and a trio of 3-point field goals. Crowl chipped in 15 points in the 81-66 win for Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, AJ Hoggard led the Spartans with 19 points and Malik Hall chipped in 13. However, Hall was dinged up in the second half and spent a large portion of the period on the bench.

Here are the key takeaways from the Friday night action:

Bench points prove big for Badgers

In spite of some of the inconsistent struggles for Michigan State, the starting group of the Spartans held their own at times on the road. A glaring issue — particularly in this game — came when Wisconsin went to its bench.

During the first-half push, the Badgers’ bench chipped in 18 points, including 6 from Nolan Winter. Connor Essegian also added 8 points in the first half with Essegian and Winter combining to go 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

On the flip side, Michigan State did not receive much production until late in the game when Xavier Booker provided a spark with the game already out of hand. Still, the Badgers finished the night with a 22-11 advantage in bench points. In a game decided by 15 points, it does not take a rocket scientist to see the impact Wisconsin’s depth had on the outcome.

Rebounding woes plague Michigan State

Let’s be honest: Winning in Madison is not traditionally easy. For this year’s Michigan State team, a more flawless performance than usual was needed to have any hope of upsetting the No. 13 Badgers.

Tom Izzo’s Spartans did not produce that kind of performance. Wisconsin hit the offensive glass early to build a 9-point halftime lead and capitalized again in the second half to put things away.

This year, Wisconsin is just too efficient offensively for anyone to give the Badgers extra possessions. In particular, Michigan State continues to ride up and down performances and is not the kind of team that can live with a lack of rebounds.

Wisconsin maintains No. 1 spot in the B1G

With the win, Wisconsin continues to lead the league with an 8-1 overall record in B1G play. The lone blemish was a road loss to Penn State, but Friday’s win gives the Badgers 3 straight victories since the loss.

Wisconsin also secured a full game lead in the conference over Purdue who sits behind the Badgers with a 7-2 league record. Illinois and Northwestern each hold a 5-3 record in the B1G.

The Boilermakers will be in action on Sunday at Rutgers to try and keep pace in the league standings. Wisconsin and Purdue will not face off in head-to-head games until Feb. 4 in Madison and again in the regular-season finale on March 10 in West Lafayette.